The world is being invaded by an army of Mutant Mudds! Max pulls out his trusty water blaster in order to stop the invasion. Will you be up to the challenge of stopping the invasion?

Story/Plot

If you played the 3DS, PC, or IOS version of the game, then go ahead and skip to the next section, as the story has not changed. Max and Grannie are hanging around their house watching TV when suddenly a breaking news reports a giant meteor heading towards their planet and it crash lands. The Mutant Mudds then appear and begin their invasion and Max grabs his water blaster and leaves the house to stop the invasion. Max will travel through five worlds, twenty secret levels, and twenty ghost levels. After the main worlds and secret levels are complete, Grannie can show her groove and access twenty other secret levels.

Gameplay & Controls

I will assume that you know the basics from Jeremy’s Review of the 3DS version. To sum it up in a few sentences, it is a platforming game where the main controls are to jump, shoot, duck and hover. It does a great job making it seem like this game could have been on the NES or SNES. What is different in this version of the game, is that even towards the beginning, you can access twenty additional levels via a mirror. Basically these are known as the “Ghost Levels” as all the Mudds are now ghosts. The trick is that you cannot hurt them with your normal blaster, but they can still hurt you. On a good portion of the levels, you can pick up the ghost blaster which enables you shoot at the ghost Mudds. However, you are limited to ten shots, and the enemies take the same amount of hits that their non-ghost version took. Also after like 3-5 seconds, they will respawn. This game also introduces two new enemies, both of which that hover slowly upwards, but have a quick dive down.

The ghost levels are still as devious as the original, secret and Grannie levels. The player will need to proceed with caution, well timed jumps and be ready to dodge the enemies lurking beyond the visibility of the screen. Overall the new levels add a new level of challenge as you cannot just blast the enemies, they are geared towards dodging and going around them and avoiding them. This new element adds a fresh mechanic to the gameplay and I can only hope the developer will incorporate these types of levels into the planned sequel.

The controls remain the same to the other versions of the game. You can shoot, or jump using Y/B and X/A (respectively). You can hover by hitting the jump button twice. You can only hover for a limited period of time, so after the meter runs out, Max will fall. You can duck by holding down on the control pad. While holding down, Max can shoot or drop through certain platforms (using a jump button). This game is completely playable on the GamePad screen or the TV as they will both show the same display at the same time.

Visuals & Sound

The visuals remain in their 12-bit style and still looks quite impressive on the big screen. I really enjoyed the blur effect when the dimensions Max is not in is not as easily visible as was in the 3DS version. But with the Wii U not having 3D, I thought this effect helped keep the focus where Max was active and was not terribly confusing what obstacles/enemies were in his way, and which ones were in a different plane. I didn’t notice any major difference between the display on the GamePad and the TV and both looked very thorough in their own way.

In terms of the sound, new soundtracks were added for ghost levels and they add a haunting feeling while Max is exploring the new levels. There are also cool sound effects added when acquiring the ghost blaster along with a regeneration sound that added to the experience. Overall, the new sounds and tracks add to the already exceptionally done soundtrack that was made with the original game. Make sure to watch the videos at the end to have a listen!

Conclusion

While the game is not completely new to everyone, it is still a must have game. Mudds Deluxe is a devilish, devious, solid platforming game. Some levels will have you replaying until you get it right and that inspires the player to be more careful with each ‘continue’. The ghost levels add a new twist where you simply cannot defeat all the enemies in your path and challenges the player to dodge and go around and adds additional hours of unique gameplay. I would recommend this game to fans of 12-bit graphical/musical style and enjoy platforming games, and those that have played the 3DS/PC/IOS version of the game.

Final Score: 9.5 out of 10

+ 80 levels (20 unique to this version)
+ Unique art style
+ Off TV Play
+ Immediate access to new levels
+ New enemies and traps
+ Catchy gloomy tunes for new levels
+ Ability to turn off checkpoints
– Not a lot of new content for fans of the 3DS/PC version

My 100% walkthrough of the majority of the ghost levels (spoilers):

About the author:

Greg’s gaming hobby started with the NES when his grandma purchased it for Christmas one year. He started with Super Mario Brothers with Duck Hunt set and Super Mario would become the first game he beat. From there he continued gaming with the SNES, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Game Cube, Nintendo DS (original, Lite, DSi), and then was a first week Wii owner. Most recently he games on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U. His favorite series include Mariokart, Legend of Zelda and Metroid. His genres of choice are action/adventure, RPG, puzzle/strategy and platforming. His life long goal of going to E3 was achieved in June 2013 and hopes to return in the future.

Greg has been blogging for NintendoFuse since November 2011. He started off as a knowledgeable contestant for the Ambassador Tournament, and was asked to jump on the team. Currently, he enjoys writing game reviews and occasionally sharing news with the fans and readers. You will also find him on the forums as the Event Moderator.